Isn't That Just Dandy
by emeraldgirl503
Summary: Danny has finally realized his feelings... but how will he tell Mindy?
1. Chapter 1

Danny looked at his watch and let out another sigh. Where the hell was she? They'd been just about to step onto the elevator together when Mindy had realized she'd left her phone somewhere in her office. Trying not to appear too eager, he'd told her he'd just meet her in the lobby, but now it was ten minutes later and she was nowhere to be seen. How long did it take to find a phone, for God's sake? He knew she could be a little scatter-brained, but with that bright yellow case on it, that phone could probably be seen from the space station. How could she have misplaced it so badly?

Danny took to pacing the floor of the lobby while he waited, pausing every time he heard the elevator ring and trying to assume a calm, unaffected manner, just in case Mindy was on that elevator. He didn't want Mindy to notice his nerves. He'd tried to make this sound casual, just two friends grabbing sushi after work, but if things went the way he planned, they'd end the night as so much more.

Ever since that night Mindy had spent at his place a few weeks ago, he couldn't get her out of his head. Which was weird, because plenty of women had stayed at his place before and he'd quickly forgotten about them. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spent days thinking about a woman he hadn't even gotten naked with. It was driving him crazy. Hopefully that would all change by the end of tonight, and then things could go back to normal.

_Yeah, right, _he thought to himself. There would never be anything _normal _about being with Mindy. Already things were so far from normal, because he wasn't just thinking about getting her into bed tonight. He was… actually thinking ahead. Long-term. Probably not as long-term as Mindy would… _don't flinch if she mentions kids_, he reminded himself… but considering his usual MO was to just operate on a night-to-night basis as needed to mitigate his loneliness, this was pretty huge for him. Even his relationship with Christina, hell, even his marriage, had been about trying to hold on to some elusive feeling of connectedness to avoid being swallowed by loneliness and a lingering sense of abandonment. His feelings for Mindy were so beyond that. It wasn't about just trying to stave off loneliness. It was about having her, specifically her, only her, in his life, because he… well, he… _Damn it, Castellano, if you can't say it in your mind, how are you going to tell her? _he thought to himself.

He shook his head. "I love her," he whispered to himself. "Mindy, I love you."

"Ugh, I always knew you were weird, Danny, but now you're talking to yourself? That's a new low," Mindy's voice said from behind him.

Danny practically jumped out of his skin. "Hey! How long have you been standing there? Why'd you sneak up on me like that?"

"You must have really lost it if you didn't hear her elephant feet pounding across the lobby," Jeremy said from beside Mindy.

Danny furrowed his brow. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Mindy invited me. Said you two were going out for a casual coworker meal and suggested it might be a good bonding experience. You know, get the original 3 back together," Jeremy replied in his cheerful British accent, oblivious to Danny's glare.

"Yeah, come on, Danny, it'll be fun! Like old times, before we hired that obnoxious man-boy."

"I thought he was growing on you," Jeremy commented. "You're the one who promoted him to senior partner a few weeks ago."

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that was a few weeks ago, before he suggested that I start taking donations of used maternity clothes from our patients after they deliver because they might fit me better and help me class up my wardrobe."

"Some of our patients are very stylish," Jeremy observed.

"Jeremy!" Mindy shouted, smacking him on the arm. "You're going to make me regret inviting you. You don't deserve sushi."

Jeremy said something in reply, but Danny was no longer listening. He was trying to restrategize. Maybe after dinner, he could somehow manipulate it so he and Mindy ended up alone together. He could offer to split a cab with her or something. It would still work out.

After all, he was Danny Castellano. Danny Castellano always got the girl.


	2. Chapter 2

Dinner was agonizing and painful. Every minute dragged by. Danny had considered just standing up and dragging Jeremy out of the restaurant himself, but he didn't think that would set the right mood for a confession of love.

Finally, though, the check came. Jeremy and Mindy started painstakingly calculating each individual portion to determine who owed what, but Danny snatched it out of their hands. "I'll just get it," he replied, shoving his credit card into the slot and impatiently waving it toward their server.

"Are you sure?" Jeremy protested, reaching for his wallet. "Why don't I ask them to split it equally onto my card?"

Danny quickly shoved the bill into the hands of the server. "No, that'll take too long. I've got it."

"No, wait," Jeremy called out, and the server pivoted toward the table. "Here, just take…"

"No, go. Put it on that card," Danny argued. Confused, the server started to turn away, but Jeremy held out his card, so the server took a step back toward the table. Jeremy began to get up, and Danny stepped in front of him and blocked the way. "If you take the check and bring it back in less than 2 minutes, I will tip you $100 in cash," he murmured quietly so only the server could hear. The waiter's eyes lit up and he quickly scurried away.

"God, Danny, what is with you tonight?" Mindy said as both he and Jeremy sat back down. "You're acting like a jerk."

"Hey, I covered the check, didn't I?" he shot back.

"Yeah, but you're practically foaming at the mouth and snarling about it," Mindy replied. "What, do you have a hot date or something? In a rush to get home? Because might I remind you that this was your idea, Danny!"

Great. Now he'd made her angry. She was arguing with him and he wasn't even fighting back. If he told her he loved her now, she'd probably just slap him in the face. _Way to go, Castellano._

Just then, Jeremy's pager went off. He looked down at the message. "Oh! Looks like one of my patients is in labor. I should get to the hospital. Thanks for getting the check, Danny. I'll grab it next time."

Danny nodded and waved, though it was more of a wave of dismissal than a farewell. Not that Danny noticed. He just wanted to get him out of here. This was perfect! Now he'd have alone time with Mindy… who was still glaring at him.

He reached out and touched her hand across the table. "Hey, I'm sorry. I'm just a little anxious about something. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Mindy's eyes lit up. "Ooo, anxious? What are you anxious about? This sounds like it could be juicy. Is it juicy gossip? Come on, I'm your friend. Tell me! I hope it's something exciting and fun that I can tell everyone. Oh my God, Danny, you're not back with Christina, are you?"

"What? No! Why would I ever get back together with Christina?"

"I don't know, Danny, you have a history of bad decisions when it comes to her, so I never know if you're about to do something completely horrible again."

"No, it's not that. It's…" Danny gathered his courage. It was time. He had to tell her. Now.

"What? Danny, don't leave me hanging!" Mindy said, kicking him under the table.

"Ow! I was getting there. Geez, what are you trying to do, break my shins?"

"Stop changing the subject! Tell me your gossip!"

Danny took a deep breath. "Okay, Mindy, the truth is…"

The sound of a cheesy pop song filled the air, interrupting Danny's speech. "Sorry," Mindy said, pulling out her phone. "Oh my God, it's Gwen! Do you mind, Danny? I haven't talked to her in like ages and ages."

Danny sighed. "No, go ahead."

Mindy stood and ran around the table. "Thanks, Danny. See you tomorrow at the office," she said, leaning down to kiss his cheek. Before he even had time to process, she was flitting toward the door, chatting cheerfully on the phone. With one final wave, she stepped out onto the street.

Just then, the waiter came back with the check. Danny glanced down at his watch. "Of course that was under 2 minutes. Great. Can anything go my way tonight?" Angrily, he fished into his wallet. "I've only got 3 $20s."

"You said $100 cash," the server reminded him.

"I know what I said, but I didn't think you'd actually be able to do it, so I've only got 3 $20s. I can put the rest on the credit card…"

"You said cash," the server repeated.

"Okay, but I didn't think…" Danny protested.

"Well, you shouldn't have made a promise without thinking," the server retorted.

"What do you want me to do?" Danny replied, his voice raising. "I've only got 3 $20s!"

"There's an ATM on the corner," the server replied.

Danny let out a heavy breath. "Fine. Whatever. I'll be right back. I guess one of us should have a good night." Then he stormed down the street to withdraw $100 and bring it back to the waiter, before going home alone.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days, Danny kept trying to find a moment to get Mindy alone and ask her out again, this time being a little more explicit about it just being the two of them, but somehow their schedules were perfectly out of sync. Every time he was free, she was in with a patient or delivering a baby, and vice versa. He debated sending her a text and bribing her to come over his place by offering to cook for her out of desperation, but he didn't want to make too big a deal out of it. After all, if the vibe didn't seem right, he could still back out if he kept it casual. If he turned it into a big thing, then she might start getting suspicious and he would be forced to tell her and possibly ruin everything.

Finally, on Friday evening, fate seemed to be in his favor. Mindy's last patient was just leaving, and he was done for the day. He started toward Mindy's office, but stopped when she came bounding out. "Okay, you guys, I'm out!" she said, stopping at the reception desk. "I've got a date with this hot guy I met at the dentist yesterday morning. At least, I think I do. His mouth was all full of Novocain and stuff, so it was hard to understand him, but he seemed really sweet. Look, here's a picture I snapped of him when he wasn't paying attention. Ignore the drool. Isn't he adorable?" she gushed, holding her phone out to Betsy, Beverly, and Tamara.

"Do you ever go somewhere and not get some random guy's number?" Danny grumbled.

Mindy shot him a dirty look. "For your information, Danny, I am extremely lovable. I can't help that people are drawn toward my charming personality, ridiculously hot good looks, and amazing sense of style. Unlike you, some people appreciate me."

"That's not fair! I…" _love you! _he wanted to shout, but he didn't really think this was the appropriate time or place. "…appreciate you. Your, um… outfit looks… well, there are some pretty colors in it…"

"Wow, how sweet, Danny. Thanks," she retorted sarcastically. "I'm so touched. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date to go on with a guy who can actually give a compliment. I think. I mean, he said he really liked my shirt yesterday, or else he said his mouth really hurt, but I think it was the shirt one because my shirt was really cute yesterday. Have a good weekend, everybody!"

Danny sighed and headed back to his office. Whatever. He had a lot of paperwork to catch up on anyway. He would tell her when the timing was better. Like next week sometime. As long as she and dentist guy didn't hit it off and get serious before then…

_Stop it, Castellano, _he told himself. _She's not going to fall in love in 2 days. Focus on your work. You can tell her next week._

Danny tried to keep repeating to himself that there was still time to tell Mindy, but when he got in bed he just tossed and turned, imagining all sorts of horrors, like Mindy floating into the office on Monday, looking wonderful, smelling even better, and gushing about how she spent the whole weekend in bed with her soulmate. Or worse, Mindy coming into the office on Monday sporting an engagement ring. Or, oh God, Mindy walking in and telling them she'd been swept off her feet and had eloped.

_Screw it_. He couldn't wait. He glanced over at the clock. 12:03. She was probably home from her date. Or she should be, unless it went really well… in which case, he should interrupt. He had to tell her now. If he couldn't sleep, neither should she.

Making a hasty decision, he climbed out of bed and threw on the first clothes he found in his closet. He slid a pair of shoes on, grabbed his keys, and raced out the door.

After the longest cab ride of his life, he was at her building. He bounded up the stairs to her apartment and banged on the door. No answer.

"Mindy!" he started shouting. "Mindy! It's Danny. Open up! I have to talk to you!"

"Shut up!" came a voice from down the hall.

"You shut up!" Danny shouted back. "Mindy! Come on! Open up!" he repeated, banging even louder.

A door opened down the hall. "Hey, it's 12:30 in the morning! Can you keep it down?" another voice shouted.

Danny ignored them and kept banging on the door and shouting for Mindy, until finally someone yelled, "That's it, asshole, I'm calling the fucking cops!"

"Fine!" he shouted. "I'm leaving. You all suck! Haven't you ever seen a romantic comedy with a dramatic ending before? You're all supposed to stand around supportively as I play the conquering hero!" As he stormed out, he laughed at himself. Romantic comedies? Who the hell was he, referring to romantic comedies? Clearly he'd spent a few too many nights with Mindy at the hospital.

And then it dawned on him. The hospital. Of course. She must be at the hospital. She hated spending the night at a guy's place, especially on the first date. She was always worried they'd turn out to be a serial murderer and nobody would be able to find her body because it'd be stored in some random apartment freezer somewhere in the city. Apparently she figured at least if she got murdered in her own apartment, she'd be discovered.

Racing down the stairs, he sprinted toward the street and tried to hail a cab. Of course, he couldn't find one, so he started running down the street. He felt like that guy at the end of that movie Mindy was always gushing about and trying to force him to watch… _When Some Dude Met Some Girl _or whatever it was called_._

He got about a block before he realized he actually had no idea which direction the hospital was in, and it was probably ridiculous to think he could run across the entire city and still catch Mindy at the hospital. He stopped at the next corner and tried again to hail a cab, this time with more luck. He gave them the address of the hospital and crossed his fingers that she would still be there.


	4. Chapter 4

Mindy stretched out on the couch in the doctors' lounge at the hospital. It was nearly 1 AM and she should probably head home, but she wanted to unwind a little after that delivery. It had been more challenging than she had anticipated, but finally everything had gone well. Which was more than she could say for her date. God, what a creep he had turned out to be. It turned out he was much more charming when his entire mouth was numb.

She picked up the remote and started surfing the channels, looking for something fun to watch. In a corner of her mind she refused to acknowledge, she wished Danny were here. Sure, he'd make fun of her choice of show and gripe about how ridiculous everyone was, but she actually enjoyed his commentary. It was usually pretty funny. Not that she could tell Danny that, because then he'd just get even more obnoxious about it and let it get to his head, and he certainly didn't need any help with his ego.

As she was about to settle in for an episode of _The Real Housewives of New Jersey, _the sound of running footsteps echoed down the hall. She glanced toward the door and saw Danny rounding the corner.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked. "I was just thinking of you! Did you have a delivery too? No, wait, you're not in scrubs. What's going on?"

Somehow, Danny always forgot how hot Mindy looked in scrubs. He knew she thought it was her least appealing look, but something about the competent aura she projected while in scrubs combined with the no-nonsense simplicity of them just got to him. For a minute, he just froze. On the way over in the cab, he'd rehearsed an entire speech. Even the cabbie had been impressed. _Come on, Castellano, _he chided himself.

"Stop hovering weirdly in the doorway," Mindy said. "If you're going to be here, you might as well come in and watch _Real Housewives _with me."

"No," he managed to utter.

Mindy gave him a confused look. "No? Fine. It doesn't have to be _Real Housewives. _We can do _The Voice, _or _American Idol, _or _Dancing With The Stars…_"

Danny shook his head, so Mindy continued, "Oh, it's almost Christmas!"

"It's barely November!" Danny replied, finally finding the power of speech.

"Yeah, almost Christmas, like I said," Mindy replied. "So I bet Lifetime has all sorts of romantic holiday movies we can watch…"

"No movies," Danny said.

Mindy let out a frustrated huff. "Well, then, what do you want? You're the one who came here for no reason. If you want to watch something, you're going to have to pick one of those. I'm the one who delivered a baby, so I get to decide how I unwind. You can go home and watch your own stupid TV if you don't like my choices. Plus, don't lie. I know you secretly love _Dancing With The Stars…_"

"Stop talking," Danny interrupted.

"Um, no, I will not stop talking, because you are not my boss, and this is America and we have freedom of speech…"

"Shut up!" Danny shouted. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm in love with you, but I can't do it if you don't shut up! My God, I've been trying to do this for a week and you've made it completely impossible!"

Mindy's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

_Holy shit. _That was not how that was supposed to come out. "Um… what I meant was…" Danny desperately searched for some way to salvage the situation.

"You just said you're in love with me!" Mindy shouted.

There was no saving face now, so Danny just nodded.

"Holy shit, Danny. How can you just run in here and tell me you're in love with me? How am I supposed to respond?"

"'I love you too' would be nice," he tried to joke, but it came out flat.

"Look, Danny, I know you've been pretty lonely since Christina left…"

"Min, this has nothing to do with Christina. I love you. You're woefully uninformed about anything that's not pop culture or gynecology, you tend to be extremely overdramatic to the point of sometimes narrating your life, and you're constantly trying to turn your life into a romantic comedy, but I love you. And I'm not here because I'm lonely; I'm here because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I was worried if I didn't tell you now, I'd miss the chance and lose you."

Mindy's hand was over her mouth in surprise, but she moved it to wipe at tears in her eyes. "Oh my God, you're my Harry."

Danny's face contorted in confusion. "Your what?"

"My Harry," Mindy repeated, tears welling up in her eyes. "This is exactly like the ending to _When Harry Met Sally_."

"That's the name of that silly movie," Danny said to himself. He should probably memorize that, in case this worked out. He had a feeling it would come up again.

Mindy was still sitting at the end of the couch, tears falling down her face. Suddenly Danny wasn't so sure of her response, but he hated seeing her crying. Without thinking, he sat down on the couch next to her and cradled her face with his hands, wiping at the tears on her face with the pads of his thumbs. "Look, Min, if you don't feel the same, we can just…"

His offer was cut short by Mindy's mouth pressing against his in a quick, hard kiss. "You idiot, of course I feel the same. What did you think 'you're my Harry' meant? I'm clearly Sally, and they have a happy ending, just like us…"

Danny was sure there had been words after "of course I feel the same," but they all melted away in a blur. He pulled her closer again and pressed another kiss against her open mouth, infusing it with all the pent-up passion he'd been building up for weeks, since that fateful night in his apartment.

Danny wasn't sure how much time had passed, but they kept kissing until someone at the door of the lounge cleared their throat. "You know we have on-call rooms, or like, supply closets or something that you could use," the doctor suggested.

Without tearing her gaze from his face, Mindy ran a finger across his lips to remove a slight trace of her lingering lipstick. "Thanks," she said, "but I think we'll just go home."

She stood up and held out her hand, and Danny laced their fingers together and followed her toward the door. "Your place or mine?" he asked.

"Yours is way closer," she said, shooting him a look that said, _duh._

"Eh, that's probably a good choice. I don't think your neighbors are too fond of me anyway," Danny replied.

Mindy gave him a questioning look, but he just pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her. "I'll explain tomorrow. Tonight, let's just go home."


End file.
